


from the woods

by cottontale



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 07:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3683871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cottontale/pseuds/cottontale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a dryad attached to the tree that stands in the yard of the house that Levi grew up in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	from the woods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YatoJaeger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YatoJaeger/gifts).



> happy birthday, my love!

The trees outside were a good twenty feet from his back door, but to his little body, the distance felt greater. It was an ocean of brown, red, and dead grass that tickled his toes through his socks. He didn’t like shoes because Eren didn’t like shoes, and Eren was his best friend. 

Levi hopped down from the back deck, reassuring his mom he would stay where she could see him. He jumped from each path stone, counting as high as he could go, until he spotted a wilting dandelion. Eren liked dandelions. 

He bent down on his knobby knees and plucked the weed, cradling it close to his body against the wind. Maybe Eren would show him more magic today. 

“Eren,” he whispered as quietly as a child could, laughing when he felt the breeze ruffle his hair. “Eren, I’m back.” 

“Levi!” 

He was tackled to the grass, barely missing Eren’s tree. Eren was holding onto him tightly, rubbing his cold nose to his neck. Levi scrambled to get away, laughing harder and harder every time his best friend nuzzled closer. His hair was braided with flowers and twigs, tickling Levi’s cheeks.

“A dandelion!” Eren eventually pulled away long enough to notice and pushed off his gasping friend. “Wow, thank you, thank you!” 

Levi sat up, holding on his small ribcage and smiling warmly. Eren watched as the breeze ruffled the yellow petals, big green eyes trained intensely on the weed. 

“You were gone longer this time,” he said after a long moment of concentration. His green eyes looked lonely when he finally looked to Levi. “The nights are getting longer too.” 

“I’m sorry,” Levi apologized, genuinely worried for his best friend. “My mom took me to my grandparents this weekend and we didn’t get back until late last night. I would have met you then, but it was bath time.”

“Bath time?” Eren tilted his head, looking confused. Often whenever Levi described his day, he’d have to clarify. Eren said he didn’t have parents, only that he lived with his tree. Levi didn’t understand what he mean’t no matter how many times he explained. 

“Bath time, you know, when you get in the tub and there’s bubbles.” 

“What’s a tub?” 

“Oh, um.” Levi scrunched up his nose and looked to his house. “It’s what you sit in and fill with warm water to take a bath. Mom pours soap and then there’s bubbles you use to get clean.” 

“Clean? Gross.” Eren too scrunched up his nose, copying his best friend. “I like the dirt. It keeps me happy.” 

Eren held up the momentarily forgotten dandelion and grinned with all his sharp teeth. Levi stared in wonder but jumped when Eren swallowed the weed in one bite. He hummed at the taste, cheeks turning yellow. 

“Yuck, I forgot you ate them.” 

“Sorry, did you want to share?” Eren stuck out his tongue, eyes crossing to look at the muscle. Levi laughed and shook his head. 

“No, silly!” 

-

It was his eighth birthday and Levi couldn’t wait to share his gifts with Eren. His mother eventually had to tell him to sit on his hands he was so jittery. 

“Did you want to invite anyone from school to dinner?” 

Levi felt his happiness abruptly shatter to pieces. 

“N-No, thanks. I’m happy with just us.” 

His mother smiled and patted his head. 

“You’re such a good boy, my Levi.” 

-

It was his eleventh birthday and Eren was holding a crown of flowers to his chest. His cheeks were bright pink today, so Levi wondered if he ate any roses. He didn’t think roses grew in winter. 

“I made you something for your birth day.” Eren held out the woven twigs and branches of dogwood flowers and mint leaves. “I know you like the smell of mint and the dogwood reminds me of you, so I… um made you a matching crown.”

Levi wanted to cry he was so happy, taking the crown gently. It matched Eren’s perfectly, though his dogwood was brighter and seemed warm to the touch. Eren’s had more purple flowers that Levi didn’t know, and a few resting nettles. 

“Thank you,” Levi eventually said and put the crown over his ears. It was a little big, but he just reasoned he’d be able to grow into it. “I love it.” 

Eren’s shyness seemed to melt, like it always did. He bounced from his tree and fixed the crown so it wasn’t crooked. It seemed to fit better once Eren pulled away. He was a head taller, but didn’t have to bend his knees just yet. 

He kissed Levi’s cheek. 

“Whoa.” Levi said quietly, surprised. He put his fingers over his warming skin. 

“I saw your mom do it this morning,” Eren explained. “It means ‘I love you’, right?” 

“You love me?”

“I love you!” Eren yelled, scattering the surrounding squirrels and birds in the trees. He put his whole body into his laugh as Levi burned red and mumbled back his own hushed ‘I love you too’. 

-

By the time he was fourteen, Levi was anxious. Eren seemed to be growing taller every time he saw him and he was still stuck at four feet and eleven inches. But whenever he voiced his opinions, Eren always kissed his cheek and assured him he’d grow. 

“You just need lots of sunlight and rain.” 

-

Fifteen, and Levi knew boys weren’t supposed to kiss each other on the cheek. He didn’t have the heart to tell Eren though. He didn’t want the kissing to stop, even though it was harmless. 

He imagined turning his head and catching Eren’s lips instead. When he was alone, he closed his eyes and imagined Eren hugged him and kissing him and touching him and  _being in love with him_ —but then his mom would knock on his door or his gut would swoop with guilt. He shouldn’t be thinking of his best friend like that. 

The next time he saw Eren, he watched Eren’s light brown skin twist in the sunlight as he braided his hair and replaced the dead flowers with brighter ones. He was a wonder to watch, humming and concentrating on his tasks, whether it was wrestling Levi in piles of leaves or simply practicing his magic. 

And now he knew that wasn’t supposed to be possible. 

“Eren.” 

“Hmm?” Eren was watching his fingers expertly twist and turn his hair around a daisy chain, his tongue peaking through his teeth. 

“What are you?” 

His best friend stopped his braiding, red lips pouting. 

“What do you mean? I’m a boy, I think. I don’t really care.” 

“No, I know that. I mean, what are you… like I’m human.” 

Eren’s eyes lit up as he understood. He puffed up his chest and pointed proudly to the ash tree behind him. Levi watched the tree bloom before his eyes with beautiful red and white flowers. 

“I’m a dryad!” 

An apple dropped from a stem and into Eren’s outstretched hand. He tossed it to Levi, who barely managed to catch the fruit he was so stunned. He’d only heard of those in stories. 

And after all this time, he thought he’d imagined his only friend. 

-

Seventeen and Levi barely had time to visit Eren. If he did, it was for only a few hours to catch up and vent about school work. Then he’d leave to make his mother dinner. Eren understood, but watching from the woods was lonely. 

So this time, Eren was going to make sure Levi stayed longer. 

“Good morning,” Eren told him. Levi blinked sleepily but accepted the kiss on the cheek. He’d come to accept the greeting as routine and barely noticed Eren pecking another one to his forehead. Until he went lower to his nose and hovered over his mouth. 

“W-Wha—”

Levi pulled his head back, but smacked it into Eren’s tree. The dryad laughed playfully and pulled his best friend closer. 

“What are you—” 

Eren pressed a kiss to his lips, but it was no longer than a simple peck to the cheek. He didn’t seem to know the significance. 

Levi flushed under Eren’s gaze and tried to catch his breath. 

His best friend never wore clothes, he knew that, but he always told himself never to look. It was rude and Eren was unashamed. No need to make him uncomfortable. But now he couldn’t stop his eyes from running over Eren’s body. 

His darker skin was gorgeous in the early fall light, red and brown leaves in his hair and mixing with his flower crown. Mud caked his arms in some places, but that wasn’t unusual. Dirt made him happy, after all. But what he didn’t expect was the muscle clinging to his skeleton, wrapping beautifully around his forearms, his thighs, his stomach. 

The collarbones were hollowed so well, Levi could only imagine tasting them and marking Eren’s skin. He could practically taste the gritty dirt and mint. Eren had always taken to having some mint on him because of Levi. It was endearing, but now it tugged at his heart strings. 

But then his eyes traveled lower and Levi’s stomach rushed with heat. Eren was a man now, taller than Levi in many ways, though Levi was wider. In between the dryad’s legs was his flaccid cock and Levi felt his mouth water. 

“Levi?” Eren captured his attention after a long silence. 

“I-I have to g-go.” Levi pulled away and made it two feet before Eren grabbed his wrist. 

“You just got here,” he whined. “Please, Levi, I’m so lonely without you.” 

“…I can’t.”

Levi yanked away and didn’t turn back for five years. 

-

“Thanks for helping me with the boxes,” his mother told him, the grey in her hair more apparent than he remembered. “I don’t think I could move without you.” 

Levi pulled another heavy box into the moving truck and shrugged. 

“Least I can do while I’m in town.” 

“When’s your interview with the park rangers, again? Do you have a suit?” 

“It’s next Tuesday, and yes, I have a suit,” he assured her and rearranged the furniture for more space. 

“You always did love the outdoors,” she told him after a moment. She looked out to the old house and the woods beyond. “You’d stay out there until I had to drag back in by your dirty ears.” 

“They were not dirty.” Levi rubbed his right ear self-consciously. 

“Well, if you do become a park ranger, it’ll fit you perfectly.” 

“Why do you think that? I have an international business degree. This is just temporary if I do get the job.” 

“Oh Levi, you know it’s the perfect job for you. You love being alone and in the woods. Every time you came back inside, you’d always have a big smile on your little face. No matter how angry and sad you were, when you’d come back inside you’d be smiling like you had the time of your life out there,” she laughed, putting a hand over her mouth as she looked back to the edge of the woods. “Heavens knows what you did. Talked to squirrels and birds, maybe? You always sounded like you were talking to someone.” 

Levi remembered. He could never forget. 

“Imaginary friend,” Levi told her. She barked another laugh and gave him a fond look as he jumped down from inside the truck. 

“Ah, yes, that’s right. You were only four years old when you came back inside with muddy socks, refusing to wear shoes anymore because your friend… what was their name again?” 

Sadly, Levi turned to the woods and felt his heart strings tug like those years back when he had a best friend. 

“Eren.” 

-

His mother was long gone, driving the truck to her new house while he stayed behind to clean up. 

But he barely started in the kitchen before he turned to the back door and looked to the woods outside. The window was lower than he remembered, as he had to stand on his toes to reach before. Now, he was a whopping five feet and three inches. He wondered how tall Eren was. 

If he was still there. If he would still appear for Levi. 

He probably wouldn’t. Levi left him for five years because he couldn’t stop his stupid teenaged heart from growing to love him. 

Levi banged his forehead on the glass of the door and sighed. 

God, he fell in love with a dryad. 

Forcing himself to finish cleaning, Levi made his way upstairs. He’d be less tempted to go outside if he started from the top. 

The door to his bedroom opened with a groan, revealing his old empty room. His mattress was on the wall, for the next home owners, and his things were in small boxes left for him to take. 

A box labeled ‘memories’ had him curious enough to kneel and rip the tape with his keys. Pushing aside packing peanuts and bubble wraps, he pulled out old clothes, muddy socks he refused to throw away (they were safely preserved in plastic bags) and… his flower crown. 

The dogwood was still as perfect as it had been on his eleventh birthday. The mint was fresh, enticing his nose to prickle and his eyes to water. Gripping the crown, he ran down the stairs and into the backyard. 

The twenty feet separating the woods and his deck was a sea of red, brown and dead grass again. He remembered the feeling of his socked toes crunching over the ground, hopping from stone to stone. He felt like crying, the nostalgia crashing upon him in waves. 

“Eren,” he said softly, whispering as quiet as an adult could. “Eren, I’m back.” 

This time, he wasn’t tackled. He didn’t have a dandelion or a story to tell. He had a thousand and one regrets, watching the woods before his eyes—unfamiliar. 

Where was Eren’s tree? Wasn’t it over here? Or there? 

Levi wandered in circles, holding the flower crown to his chest. 

Maybe Eren was hiding. Maybe he didn’t want to see him after all these years of being alone in the woods, braiding his hair and telling stories to no one. With no one to listen to him sing or chatter on about the birds making a mess of his tree. 

Maybe… maybe Eren was gone. 

He sniffed loudly, looking to the woven crown in his fingers, vision blurring as he cried. The flowers were beautiful as ever, bright like Eren’s cheeks whenever he kissed Levi. Bright like Eren’s eyes as he laughed. 

“Eren, I’m so lonely,” he mumbled. 

But this time, there was no one to listen. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry but angst is charlie's fav hahahaahaha cries
> 
> [tumblr](http://foxicology.tumblr.com/)


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